Taxing entities’ debt moves closer to $1B

Total debt payments don’t include recent road bond

The total payments related to the bond debt for Midland’s five taxing entities are approaching $1 billion.

The total payments related to the bond debt for Midland’s five taxing entities are approaching $1 billion.

The Texas Board Review Board has updated its website to reflect fiscal year 2017 numbers, and it shows Midland’s five taxing entities -- city, county, school district, junior college and hospital district -- with $496.1 million in principal payments and $251.6 million in interest payments. The website shows total payments of $747.8 million. The amount doesn’t include bond debt approved by voters in November to upgrade current roads inside the city.

That total debt associated with the road bond has been estimated at $167.4 million. Add that amount to the existing debt – reported as of Aug. 31 – and the total debt payments would reach $915.2 million.

Much of that debt is voter-approved. In addition to road bond, the voter-approved debt represented includes referendums passed, including multiple school district bonds, the hospital bond passed in 2009, the Midland College bond approved in 2005 and the county bond passed in 2008. City of Midland debt includes certificates of obligation that were approved by the Midland City Council and not voters.

The taxing entity with the most principal and total payment debt was Midland ISD -- $215.9 million and $335.2 million, respectively. The city of Midland is second on the list with $128.2 in principal payments and $192.6 in total payments. The other entity with more than $100 million in total payments is the Midland County Hospital District -- $101.3 million in principal payments and $160.2 million in total payments.

The city’s total debt will climb from the total shown on the TBRB website. City officials have said that the debt will be added incrementally. Still, add the $167.4 million in anticipated debt, and the city’s total approved debt (including interest) grows to around $360 million.

The taxing entities’ total payment amount has climbed since the end of 2012, when the TBRB reported a total of $668 million. That number rose to $714 million at the end of $2013 and $866 million as of Aug. 31, 2014. In 2016, that amount had fallen to $764 million.

The Texas Bond Review Board also shows Midland County Water District No. 1 with nearly a half-billion in total payments. The $464.3 million in total payments includes $224.6 million in principal.